HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020 11 17 CCI MinutesMinutes Approved: 06/15/2021
Attest By: Brenda Jones
Springfield Planning Commission
Committee for Citizen Involvement
Tuesday, November 17, 2020
Committee for Citizen Involvement: Troy Sherwood, Kuri Gill, Grace Bergen, Tim Vohs, Andrew Landen,
Michael Koivula. Absent: Commissioner Sophie McGinley
Staff: Sandy Belson, Comprehensive Planning Manager; Brenda Jones, Planning Commission Assistant;
Kristina Kraaz, Assistant City Attorney; Mark Rust, Senior Planner; Molly Markarian, Senior Planner;
Monica Sather, Senior Planner; Melissa Carino, Senior Planner; Loralyn Spiro, Lead Communication
Coordinator.
Audience: Greg James, Springfield Resident
ADJUSTMENT TO CCI AGENDA
Chair Sherwood moved item “Outreach in Eugene during COVID”, to a later Planning Commission
Meeting.
Item 1: General Public Comment
Greg James congratulate Commissioner Troy Sherwood for a great 4 years of service to the Planning
Commission. He also showed appreciation to Commissioner Vohs for his 8 years of service to the Citizen
of Springfield.
Item 2: Using SpringfieldOregonSpeaks
This is the Commissioner opportunity to become familiar with the new platform created by People
Speaks that allows for asynchronous meetings in a virtual environment.
Sandy explained that since the public meetings have gone to on‐line format, staff started exploring
various tools that would facilitate citizen involvement in planning projects and meetings. Staff identified
People Speaks as a platform designed as a public/private partnership by planners and software
engineers to meet the needs of Planning Commission and other city committees. Use of
SpringfieldOregonSpeaks will facilitate the opportunity for the public to participate outside the
traditional single‐evening timeframe.
Sandy provided an overview of SpringfieldOregonSpeaks. Commissioners who had a chance to fully
explore the site liked what they saw and thought it would be useful to the general public.
Commissioners asked the following questions for which staff will find out the answers:
1. How long meetings would be archived on the platform?
2. Can there be links to past meetings on the same agenda topic?
3. How does the voting work? In particular, there should be no “Pre‐voting”.
Minutes Approved: 06/15/2021
Attest By: Brenda Jones
Item 3: Wetland Riparian Corridors Explained: What are they, and why do they matter?
Monica is interested in using this opportunity to test the SpringfieldOregonSpeaks platform by providing
an overview of what wetlands and riparian corridors and what they offer. From there, staff would like
to hear from the CCI about these two items:
1. Identify the functions of wetlands and riparian corridors that appear relevant to the Urban
Growth Boundary (UGB) expansion areas
2. Sharing examples of favorite places with water resources (such as wetlands and riparian
corridors) and why these places are considered CCI Members’ favorites.
Some of the comments from the CCI were that they loved the accessibility of the packet through
SpringfieldOregonSpeaks and how easy the video was to load and view.
As Monica went into the packet, the Commissioners had additional questions regarding the Wetlands
and Riparian areas in Springfield:
1. Are there plans to do anything on the Mill Race from 28th Street through those areas with the
Auto wrecking yards? Monica will need to get back to the CCI.
The CCI had a great conversation on “What is the CCI’s favorite wetland and/or Riparian area”.
COMMISSION UPDATES
Commissioners shared updates on past Council meetings and requested that this be a regular item on
future CCI meetings.
Adjournment: 7:15 p.m.